10/28/02

Columbus - Tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions have passed through a trio of new political funds set up since last year throughout House Speaker Larry Householder's eastern Ohio district.

The fledgling Republican State Candidate Funds - in Perry, Licking and Hocking counties - can be used only for legislative or statewide races. That makes them flexible enough to help the Republican caucus that Householder now leads and also to eventually sup port the speaker himself if he runs for state wide office.

House Chief of Staff Brett Buerck acknowl edged that Householder has had a role in establishing the funds, but he said a Householder-for-statewide-office campaign is not the reason.

"It's about party building," Buerck said. "Those State Candidate Funds are intended to build the party at the grassroots, and that's why we're involved."

The first contribution - a $5,000 check from Columbus-area steel magnate John McConnell - arrived in one of the newly created funds June 25, 2001.

That happened the summer after Householder took the helm of the Ohio House. Between that date and this week's campaign finance filing deadline, reports show nearly $100,000 has flowed into the three funds.

Money so far has come out of only one: the Licking County Republican State Candidate Fund. Most of what has been spent has gone to State Auditor Jim Petro, whose campaign for attorney general is chaired by Householder. Petro has received $40,000, with a smattering of other candidates receiving another $10,700.

McConnell, the politically generous founder of Worthington Industries, ultimately gave $15,000 in three contributions to two of the funds while another donor, Youngstown's Anthony Cafaro, gave $12,500 in separate donations to all three funds. Members and associates of Cleveland's Ratner family, owners of Forest City Enterprises, gave a combined $2,500 in June to the fund run by the Hocking County Republican Party.

Newark attorney J. Gilbert Reese, who gave $5,000 in Licking County, was the only local donor to give to any of the funds. All the others listed out-of-town addresses, many within blocks of the Statehouse.

Other generous donors are attorneys who have done special counsel work with the attorney general's office, which Petro seeks: Michael Scoliere, Lee Smith, Bernard Fox Jr. and Kevin Kurgis, and three law firms. All gave well over the $1,000 that Ohio law would have allowed them to give to Petro directly as a result of doing business with the attorney general's office. The county party gave to Petro in $5,000, $10,000 and $20,000 chunks.

Mitch Givens, a spokesman for Petro's campaign, said Petro has held several fund-raisers in Licking County, so he is not surprised at the county party's support of the campaign.

"We raised money completely within the law," Givens said. "And if there are occasions where we can help county parties who we've built a good relationship with, we're always happy to do that. We understand there can be residual and direct support from those county parties."

Buerck said Householder has helped raise money for the funds - but has no control over how the local parties might spend it. But, at least in Householder's native Perry County, some have heard otherwise.

"The only thing I heard about the fund is that Larry controls it," said Michael Heavener, a former county party chairman who served alongside Householder as county commissioner.

"Control is a loaded word," Buerck said. "As within any organization, the speaker's going to make suggestions and give advice on where he thinks you ought to go. I don't know that there's anybody in Perry County who's got a better feel for political matters and what's the best way to get out the vote and motivate people to support particular candidates."

Sandy Barber, a longtime Republican chairwoman in Fulton County, which is larger than both Perry and Hocking counties, said she finds it unusual that State Candidate Funds would be emerging in such small counties.

"As a Republican chair, I don't know why someone would want to go to all that trouble," she said. "I would shy away from something like that. I mean, if it was a huge county, you may have specific reasons for wanting to support statewide candidates, but I certainly can't see the need in our smaller counties."

Buerck responded: "A strong county party in any part of the state benefits any Republican that is on any ballot this year or in the future."

Because of term limits, Householder must leave the House in 2004, two years before the next statewide campaigns.

Catherine Turcer, campaign finance director of Ohio Citizen Action, said 1995 campaign finance reforms shifted political power to the county parties by allowing them to set up their own State Candidate Funds.

But, she said, she believes building the funds through donations from generous out-of-town donors is not what the law had in mind.

"Clearly, the law is not intended to work this way," she said. "It is intended for local people to support local parties - to give $100 or $50, whatever amount they want - as part of the local community getting involved in the statewide process. I can't see how anybody can say with a straight face that John McConnell, sitting over here in Worthington, is doing grassroots organizing down in Hocking County."

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